REDFLY Mobile Companion

Having used PDA's since the introduction of the US Robotics PalmPilot Professional in 1997, I've watched the functionality of these pocket gadgets grow from simple personal organizers to highly capable communication devices. As the maturity of the devices grew I bought into the emerging connectivity options. For example, I bought a Palm Modem kit for my Palm V so I could remotely synchronize with my desktop while travelling. Later, after equipping the same Palm V device with a Palm Portable Foldable Keyboard, I decided to try exclusively computing on the Palm for a day to see if it would be practical to leave my laptop home for future travel. I think I lasted about 1 hour before the experience zapped every ounce of my patience. The tiny screen size coupled with the inability to tab between multiple applications and neck and back pain made this solution unacceptable.

....years go by and PDA technology continues to grow with Wi-Fi cell data capability, more robust operating systems and enterprise management tools like the BlackBerry Enterprise Server and Intellisync Mobile Suite. Yet there is still no way I could leave my laptop back at the office and do remote computing with a PDA for any encursion longer than an offsite lunch.

Along comes the REDFLY Mobile Companion. This sub-notebook sized device wirelessly extends the smartphone to a larger display, full keyboard, mouse and USB ports.

The REDFLY Mobile Companion is a sleek clamshell design that includes an 8" display, a full function keyboard, and a touchpad mouse. Measuring just 1x6x9 inches and only 2 pounds, the REDFLY Mobile Companion offers over 8 hours of battery life and boots instantly! It also adds three new features - instant VGA output, access to USB flash drives, and the ability to charge your smartphone via USB.
http://www.getredfly.com/

I am ready to try exclusive PDA computing again... I'll let you know more when I get my hands on a REDFLY.

Creative inPerson

This might be the new queen of youbuquity... Colleague Emdee-aych heard I was interested in finding a simple point-to-point video conferencing solution and shared with me a product he saw at CES earlier this year. Creative introduced a new product "inPerson" that is sized like a UMPC that was designed with only video conferencing in mind (no web, email, chat, ect), which in my opinion has the potential to yield a better working and easier to use product.
Check it out at http://inperson.creative.com/